Parallel intervals have been around for centuries. They have a rich and detailed history. But what exactly are parallel intervals? Parallel intervals are any intervals (2 notes played together) that go consecutively in the same direction. For example, if you have the interval of a 5th – such as C to G; if you go to D and A that would be parallel intervals – in this case, parallel 5ths.
If you go back to the first written music (plainsong, also known as Gregorian chant) you simply had the singing of liturgical text – just one note at a time. When music eventually evolved to add a second note with the birth of organum there were many parallel intervals (specifically parallel 4ths).
As music developed polyphonically and counterpoint emerged (often with many simultaneous musical lines) the writings of Bach chorales and the basic rules of four part harmony actually forbade the use of parallel fifths and parallel octaves. But why?
The very first writing in music was vocal writing. Typically in four part chorale writing you have a soprano, alto, tenor, and bass and the idea was to have distinct separate vocal lines you could hear. As these lines intersected, harmonies were created. The reason that parallel octaves were avoided in this type of music is because if you have two different voices singing the same notes an octave apart it sounds like the same line.
This same principle applies to parallel fifths since they are sonically related. The same is not true for parallel thirds and other intervals. If you listen to parallel thirds and fourths you can still hear each individual part even though they blend well together.
I hope this is helpful and if you have any questions about this topic or any other, please email me Robert@LivingPianos.com for more information.
Welcome to the first in my multi part series on music theory. Today we will be covering intervals, specifically half-steps and whole-step. Many people consider music theory to be a complex subject – and while it can be – it is built upon simple principles. Much like mathematics, if you understand the foundational principles, you can build your knowledge from there. In explaining the simple fundamentals of music theory, it will make it much easier in the future to grasp the more complex subjects.
Intervals are simply the distance between notes (or more accurately, the distance between tones). The piano is a wonderful tool for demonstrating theory because it’s a very visual instrument; all the keys and notes are simply laid out right in front of you!
Let’s start with half steps, what are they? Simply put:
A half step is two keys together with no keys between.
If you look at a keyboard, any two keys that are together – with no keys between – is a half step. Now it’s important to remember that when it comes to intervals, you must consider the black keys. So, half-steps can contain both black and white keys. Look at the keys close to the fallboard so you are aware of the black keys.
A whole step is essentially 2 half-steps, or more simply:
A whole-step is two keys together with one key between.
So you could have a whole step that is two white keys with a black key between them, a pair of black keys with a white key separating them, or even a black and white key with a key between them. As long as there is one key between the notes, you will always have a whole step.
But why is this important? Virtually all Western music is based upon these essential building blocks. More than that, all major scales are simply a series of half-steps and whole-steps – which we will cover in a future video.
This is a response to our first video about Music Pollution which got a great response from all of you!
To summarize our first video, I explained that music being played everywhere you go actually harms music appreciation more than it enhances it. Music is an art form that is meant to be listened to and treasured, not something that should be relegated to the background. In this entry I want to address some other issues with background music I’ve noticed and how it continues to degrade the artform form we all love.
The other day I was stuck on the phone listening to “hold music” which consisted of the same thirty second loop playing over and over. The quality of the music was terrible over the phone. The song itself was just repetitive noise and for some reason the music is about ten times louder than the voice of the caller. Who can possibly appreciate this?
If you were to go back to the Baroque era, you’d find that most musical instruments of the time were very quiet. The clavichord is an instrument that is so quiet that you can barely even hear it from across a small room! The harpsichord – which was the most robust keyboard instrument of the time, was also not nearly as loud as the modern piano. These instruments were meant to be enjoyed in close and intimate settings with quiet audiences.
As time went on, louder instruments developed and eventually electronic amplification came about and instruments could fill entire stadiums with sound! The original amplification methods were crude and distorted. But as technology has advanced, the sound quality has gotten better and better. But how engineers have dealt with amplification are troubling.
How many times have you gone to a club to listen to a group only to find that the amplification was so loud that the music was no longer enjoyable? You might even have to stick ear plugs in your ears in order to tolerate the sound at a level that doesn’t harm your hearing. Even in movie theaters the sound can be pumped up so high that it’s beyond a level of comfort. I often wonder if this could possibly be enjoyable for anyone.
When technology was more limited, louder was better. With technology today the range of volume is nearly unlimited and sound engineers now are faced with having to control the level of volume with their ears and not the indicators on their technology. Unfortunately, there are engineers who do sound more by eye (looking at gauges) than by ear!
Equalization curves allow you to make something loud but still enjoyable and not damaging to the ears. By emphasizing certain frequencies and de-emphasizing others you can achieve a pleasing level of sound even with very high volume. Some forward thinking restaurants will actually turn down the vocal spectrum of their audio which enables music to play in the background while facilitating conversation at the table.
We live in an age where the art of music goes far beyond the creation of the music itself. How music is played or presented has become an art form itself. Sound engineers are part of the musical performance and in many instances are integral to the experience.
I’m not sure how as individuals we can convey the idea that something doesn’t have to be deafeningly loud to be enjoyable. Some acoustic instruments require amplification in order to be heard. But often times it’s amplified beyond a comfortable level.
This is a very important topic to me and I would love to hear from all of you. If you have any questions about this topic or any others, please contact us at: Info@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729
Welcome to my ongoing series on music theory. Last week we covered Major Scales and how they are simply a series of half-steps and whole-steps. This week I will explain Relative Minor Scales – which are a bit more complex than their major scale counterparts.
Minor scales share key signatures with major scales. If you’re not familiar with key signatures that’s ok – I will cover that in a future video. For this lesson, we will use the C major scale which has no sharps or flats and discuss the relative minor. Once you are familiar with major scales, finding the relative minor will be very simple.
So for the C major scale you have the following sequence of notes: C D E F G A B C. So this scale has no sharps or flats and the relative minor scale has no sharps or flats either. So what would be the difference between the two? Well the minor scale actually starts on the 6th note of the major scale (A). So an A natural minor scale has A B C D E F G A.
Now there are a couple of different minor scales. In the harmonic minor scale, the 7th note is raised by a half-step. So in the example of A minor scale, if you were playing an A harmonic minor scale, the seventh note would go from G to G#, or A B C D E F G# A.
Another form of the minor scale is the melodic, which has a raised 6th and 7th. Generally though, this scale only goes up and when it comes down it reverts to the natural minor scale with no altered tones. So for A minor it would be. A B C D E F# G# A And descending: A G F E D C B A.
Something you might notice is that if you take a melodic minor scale and raise the third note, it would actually become the a major scale! (This is the parallel minor since you are starting on the same note, not a 6th away as in the relative minor.)
This is pretty much everything you would need to know about minor scales. Please keep watching these videos as we will be covering other scales and modes used from music from antiquity through jazz. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact me directly Robert Estrin Robert@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729
Welcome back to my two-part series on Diminished 7th Chords. Last week we talked about What a Diminished 7th Chord is and today we’re going to get a bit more in-depth about how and why the diminished 7th chord can be deceptive.
Last week we talked about how you can’t really invert a diminished 7thchord because it’s all minor thirds. There are however three ways to resolve these chords.
The first way to resolve a diminished 7th chord is to resolve it upward by a half step. So a B diminished 7th chord would resolve to C major or minor.
The next way to resolve diminished 7th chords is rather fascinating. If you lower any note in a diminished 7th chord by a half step and you will get a dominant 7th chord which can resolve in its usual manner from V7 to I. In C major, a G7 would resolve to a C major triad.
This might seem overwhelming but this is what makes the diminished 7thchord so deceptive yet so intriguing. It’s a wonderful chord and tool to use for improvisation and it’s one indicator of where a piece is going and the structure behind it.
The last way to resolve a diminished 7th chord is truly deceptive. You can take any note of a diminished 7th chord and make it the root of a major or minor triad. Try this out and you will be amazed a the unexpected sound!
This is a complex lesson and it would be a good idea to watch this video and try out the different resolutions so you can hear them. To recap: You can’t invert a diminished 7th chord because it’s all minor thirds even when inverting. There are three ways to resolve a diminished 7th chord. These chords are incredibly useful tools for many musical applications and it’s a great idea to get familiar with them and how they work. Once you understand the concepts behind them you will find it easier to understand them when you encounter them in your music.
Thanks again for joining me Robert Estrin Robert@LivingPianos.com. If you have any further questions please feel free to ask and I look forward to bringing you more of these videos.
Welcome to the first in our three part series on technology’s impact on music. There are going to be people with very strong emotions on both sides of this discussion and I’m going to do my best to provide a neutral presentation. Today we are going to discuss the impact that technology has had on art and music.
It’s simple to point to current technologies and see how they have impacted musicians and music as a whole. Where there used to be live bands we now have DJs and sound systems – which in certain circumstances has put musicians out of work. Electronic music has been popular for decades and some people might not even consider some of it to be music in instances where there are no actual performances – just recordings. As we delve into the controversy between technology and music you can envision the arguments of each side start to form.
Let’s take a moment and put ourselves at the time before the piano existed and even before the harpsichord came to be. There was a point in time when these were considered new inventions and something that would change music – either for the better or for the worse depending on who you asked. We could go all the way back to the origins of music – the human voice – and probably find conflicting opinions as new instruments were slowly integrated into music; there was probably never a time without controversy.
Societies eventually move on and the technologies of each age will inevitably replace the technologies of old and it will have an impact on art. Take a look at the architecture of today and compare it to the architecture of a thousands years ago, or 100 years ago; the differences are striking. Some people will revere the older styles of art and architecture while others will embrace the new – but this phenomenon is timeless.
When it comes to art, it’s ultimately about the people making music, not just the technology utilized. The inventions and instruments are merely the tools employed by the artists – what they create is a product of their environment and the tools available to them. You might not personally enjoy the work that an artist creates with newer tools, but you shouldn’t discount the tools they use – they are merely vehicles of expression.
There can be a level of resentment from people who studied their whole lives to be skilled in particular instruments that are upstaged by people using newer technologies to replicate what they do in new ways.
The best thing we can do is simply create the music we want in the ways we are familiar with. There will always be audiences for great music – no matter what tools are used to create it. Reaching people and creating a sense of emotion is the goal of art and no particular method will limit you from doing this.
I would love to hear everyone’s opinions on this topic. Please contact us directly if you have any questions or comments about this subject or any musical subject at all: Info@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729
